THE BASICS
Teams: ULM (0-0)
Centenary (0-0)
Arkansas (0-0)
Grambling (0-0
Time: Centenary -11:00 a.m. (Friday)
Arkansas - 2:00 p.m. (Sunday)
Grambling - 6:00 p.m. (Tuesday)
Locations: Centenary/Grambling - Monroe, La. (Fant-Ewing Coliseum)
Arkansas– Fayetteville, Ark. (Bud Walton Arena)
Monroe, La. - The ULM women's basketball team will open up the 2016-17 season with three games in five days. The Warhawks will open the season against Centenary on Friday at 11:00 a.m., have a Sunday trip to Arkansas and finish the stretch back at home against Grambling on Tuesday night.
NOTEABLES
-The Warhawks enter opening weekend with seven newcomers on the roster and five returners. Andreanna Jackson is the only returner that started in more than 10 games and Stephanie Ratliff led the team with 36 blocks. ULM holds a 10-6 record in home openers since 2000.
-Centenary College finished the 2015-16 season 9-17 overall. Centenary returns seven players from last season's roster. Included in those returners is leading scorer Jasmine Morris. Morris led the team with an average of 14.8 points in 2015-16. DeiAnna Hall is also a big component for Centenary as she averaged 10.2 points per game. ULM leads the series against Centenary 14-1. The teams have played against each other 15 times with games dating back to as early as 1982.
-Arkansas will open its season against Sam Houston State before taking on ULM. In 2015-16, the Razorbacks averaged 60.1 points per game, 39.2 rebounds per game and 11.43 assists per game. UA returns nine letter winners from the 2015-16 roster and three starters. The leading scorer for the Razorbacks, Jessica Jackson, returns this season and last year averaged 16.4 points per game. UA also added to the roster with five new comers. ULM and Arkansas have faced each other nine times since 1980 as Arkansas leads the series.
-Grambling opens their season against Tulane University before taking on ULM. Grambling finished the 2015-16 season with an overall record of 16-14. The Tigers return 10 players off their 2015-16 roster and will boast only two newcomers. Grambling graduated its leading scorer Yosha Watson, but returns Chantiara Lewis and Shakyla Hill, who averaged 15 and 14 points per game in the 2015-16 season. ULM and Grambling have met 10 times since 1979 as the Tigers lead 6-4 in the series.
FROM COACH DOW
Starting off the season: It's certainly unique to start the season off with three games in a span of five days. No different from any coach across the country, you never feel like you're completely ready for the season to start, but I do feel like we've put enough in at this point offensively and defensively at this point in order to still be competitive.
About Centenary: Going into the Centenary game, they have several key players that return but they have a new coach so it creates a unique situation in terms of our preparation. Being the first game of the year, a lot of nerves with some of the newcomers, but I think that we'll be ready to go.
About Arkansas: They have three returning starters. They were very competitive in the SEC finishing 7-9 and it's certainly one of the most competitive conferences in the country in women's basketball. Jessica Jackson is considered one of the top players in the country and arguably one of the top players that we will face all season. They're going to challenge us defensively and we have to make sure we're really sharp offensively.
About Grambling: Third game in five days hopefully we can tighten some things up on both ends of the floor at this point in the weekend. They have a new coach so it makes it difficult to figure out what they are going to do exactly. They did retain some key starters from last year's team and they finished over 500 last year.
The challenge the weekend brings: The challenge is staying fresh during this stretch. We try to keep things as simple as you can both offensively and defensively with what we do and at the same time try not to overwhelm them with what the opponent does.
UP NEXT
After this opening stretch, the Warhawks will travel to Thibodeaux, La., to take on Nicholls State next Saturday, November 19, with a 1:00 p.m. tipoff.
